1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and apparatus for file server resource division.
2. Related Art
In order to cut down management costs by centralizing operation management of file server computers, file server consolidation for providing a file sharing service by using a single file server computer that is usually provided by multiple file server computers is proposed. In file server consolidation, a virtual file server is used to enable a single file server computer to provide such file sharing service that has been provided by multiple file server computers. A virtual file server refers to a technique for dividing a hardware resource of a physical file server computer into a number of portions and executing a file server program for each divided resource, so that it seems as if multiple file server computers are virtually operating on a single file server computer.
The specifications of U.S. Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004/143608 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,269,696 disclose techniques for implementing a virtual file server by dividing apart of a file server computer resource on a single OS operating on a server computer, and establishing independent execution environments that allow multiple file request processing programs to be executed separately.
Existing file server virtualization techniques are capable only of plain management in which creation and deletion of virtual servers are collectively managed. For this reason, it has been difficult to utilize the technique in a hierarchical management system required for operation of a company organization, a data center or the like.